By Andrew J. Campa
Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Thursday, Nov. 3. I’m Andrew J. Campa 👋🏼, a Metro reporter writing from the San Gabriel Valley (home of the 626 Night Market!).
While much attention has been focused on the Los Angeles mayor’s race, the contest for the next Los Angeles County supervisor in charge of District 3 will likely be a close call heading into Tuesday. State Sen. Bob Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) and West Hollywood City Councilmember Lindsey Horvath, both Democrats, are vying to replace outgoing Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, who decided against running for a third term.
It’s easy to understand why this contest can be confusing, simply beginning with the role the county plays in city and local governance. Fortunately ☘️, our Jon Healy provides an excellent breakdown on the roles of city councils, the Los Angeles mayor, the county and state for those wanting to know more.
As for the district itself, the boundaries can be problematic.
The 3rd District covers parts of two huge areas — the San Fernando Valley and the Westside — but is not all-encompassing of either. Cities including West Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica are familiar Westside bastions of the district and are joined with the communities of Canoga Park, Chatsworth, North Hollywood and Pacoima from the Valley.
In total, 10 cities, 25 unincorporated communities and parts of 50 Los Angeles city neighborhoods comprise the water-pistol-shaped district.
Within the district, communities such as Fairfax, Hancock Park, Hollywood, Lake View Terrace, Pico-Robertson and various others are split, leaving residents and businesses on adjacent blocks with different representatives.
Confusion aside, the stakes are relatively high.
The district is home to 2.06 million residents, larger than San Diego (1.4 million), and stretched over 431 square miles. The 3rd District is about 43% white, 37% Latino, 12% Asian and 4% Black.
The next supervisor would become one of five voting members — currently all female — who direct a budget of nearly $39 billion 💰.
By comparison, expenditures for the states of Nevada and Arizona were listed at $16.3 billion and $45.1 billion, respectively, for 2021.
I’ve reported on this race since the spring, when there were six candidates, including state Sen. Henry Stern (D-Malibu). Last week, The Times 📰 published a profile of the candidates and details on the race, which centers on several issues, including homelessness and reproductive rights.
Our Katie Licari also wrote a piece looking at the funding behind each campaign, which is also worth a read.
Although many things have interested me about this race, it’s on the issue of law enforcement where I’ve come to see not just differing answers but also differing worldviews.
Hertzberg has portrayed himself as the conciliator, the man who can find the middle ground.
It’s a talent that, he says, led him to be voted unanimously as speaker of the Assembly from 2000 to 2002. Hertzberg often speaks about building diverse coalitions from the left and the right throughout his time in the Assembly and Senate.
A central topic in the District 3 race is the opponents’ stance on Sheriff Alex Villanueva, who is running for reelection. In September, the Sheriff’s Department searched Supervisor Kuehl’s home as part of a highly controversial investigation. Kuehl has been a vocal opponent of Villanueva, calling for his resignation in 2020. She also backs an amendment on the ballot that would authorize the board to remove an elected sheriff.
Four of five supervisors support the amendment.
But at a Sept. 29 debate at UCLA’s Hammer Museum, Hertzberg refused to denounce Villanueva, saying he “didn’t see the value in putting a finger in someone’s eye if you have to get up and work with them.”
Hertzberg said the same in interviews with The Times in March and October. He added in October that he thought the search was “horrible” but didn’t see the value of “the Twitter troll game.”
“I don’t just swing for the fences; I don’t just try to grab headlines,” Hertzberg said of a public denunciation.
He added there was a “real possibility” Villanueva would win reelection and that comments made against him would make working together difficult.
“My job is to fix problems the taxpayers sent me to deal with,” Hertzberg said. “I didn’t vote for him in the first place, but I’ll work with him if that’s what the voters want.”
At the UCLA debate, Horvath called out the sheriff, saying she didn’t “know anyone who feels safer after four years of Alex Villanueva” and “would not support” his reelection campaign.
The statement followed the candidate’s most scrutinized move of the campaign season.
Horvath caught the ire of Fox News and other conservative media in June when she voted to trim one sheriff’s deputy position and add 30 unarmed security ambassadors. The measure passed by a 3-2 vote but was seen by some residents as “defunding the police.” West Hollywood Mayor Lauren Meister and the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce threw their support behind Hertzberg after the vote.
For Horvath, a gay-marriage and abortion-rights activist, the move was about doing right by her community. Horvath said she believed in local police being “properly funded” but added that social services that help the homeless, among some vulnerable groups, “didn’t need to be defunded along the way.”
“I’ve seen firsthand the impacts when law enforcement is called upon to respond to issues for which they are not uniquely trained,” Horvath said. “It can cost people their lives; it can cost the county many dollars and high liability costs. And it costs the public trust as people start to lose faith and confidence in the services that are supposed to be delivered.”
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